Google’s Money Will Immortalize Mandela

Over the course of his life, Nelson Mandela has received more than 250 awards and recognitions, including his own day adopted by the United Nations and the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yet even so, Google and a foundation bearing his name have found a new way to honor the legendary democratic leader, who helped lead South Africa out of a repressive government.

Google announced via its blog that it is donating a $1.25 million grant to the Nelson Mandela Foundation Centre of Memory. The grant will help preserve and digitize the thousands of archival documents, photographs, and audio-visual materials about Mandela's life.

The online Mandela archive, which will be made available to the global audiences in the future, will be a wealth of information for those wanting to learn about and research the life and legacy of this extraordinary African statesman. The online multimedia archive will include Mr Mandela's correspondence with family, comrades and friends, prison diaries, and notes he made while leading the negotiations that led to the end of apartheid in South Africa, Daniel Lederman, Google's head of new business development for the EMEA said.

A similar grant from Google has also been made to the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre. Tutu was another famous South African activist that helped lead the country from the Apartheid into democracy.

Google has helped fund several digital tributes in the past including a partnership with Yad Vashem, a Jerusalem based archive of Holocaust materials and partnerships with famous art museums through its Art Project.